BETHESDA, MD – The Biophysical Society is pleased to announce Elizabeth Hinde, of the School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Australia and Jorge Alegre-Cebollada, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Spain, have been named recipients of the 2026 Michael and Kate Bárány Award. Hinde and Alegre-Cebollada will be honored at Society’s 70th Annual Meeting, being held in San Francisco, California from February 21-25, 2026.
Hinde will be recognized for the creative application of physical principles to biological systems, particularly in the development of spatiotemporal correlation spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging techniques to investigate chromatin dynamics. Alegre-Cebollada will be recognized for the pioneering the study of protein mechanics in living systems, revealing how mechanical forces govern protein function and contribute to human disease.
“Elizabeth and Jorge represent some of the most outstanding work being done by two mid-career scientists, so they both deserve to be recognized with this award,” said BPS President Lynmarie Thompson of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “By recognizing their respective work, we acknowledge their scientific endeavors thus far and mark them as researchers to watch in future.”
About the Award – The Michael and Kate Bárány Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to biophysics by a person who has not achieved the rank of full professor at the time of nomination. In recognition of the endowment gift from Michael and Kate Bárány, the award was renamed in 1998.
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The Biophysical Society, founded in 1958, is a professional, scientific society established to lead an innovative global community working at the interface of the physical and life sciences, across all levels of complexity, and to foster the dissemination of that knowledge. The Society promotes growth in this expanding field through its Annual Meeting, publications, and outreach activities. Its 6,500 members are located throughout the world, where they teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, laboratories, government agencies, and industry.